Chatham News

This is the first of two stories examining the draft master plan update for Chatham Municipal Airport.
CHATHAM – Much of the attention being given to the update of the Chatham Municipal Airport Master Plan has been devoted to the proposal to allow direct instrument approach landings. But the thick, 10-chapter study, still in the development stage, contains other significant proposals which could change the ...

CHATHAM – The summer residents have gone and the leaves are falling from the trees. Must be about time for the Pumpkin People to make their return.
Indeed, this Friday, Oct. 18, members of the Chatham Merchants Association will be marching into Kate Gould Park to set up their autumnal creations in the group's annual Pumpkin People in the Park display, which runs through Oct. 29.
This year's Oktoberfest cele...

Board: Reusing Current Site Too Costly, Complex
CHATHAM — It still remains to be seen where a proposed new senior center will be located, but it won't be at the existing site on Stony Hill Road.
Meeting in special session last Thursday, selectmen showed interest in using either part of the Marconi campus in Chathamport or a private parcel at 1610 Main St. in West Chatham for the new council on ag...

The days are getting shorter, and Chatham's Main Street can be deserted after dark as a breeze whirls dead leaves through the gutters.
Sometimes, down by the lighthouse with the wind howling and nothing but the black water below, it can be downright creepy.
You’re right to be creeped out, because it turns out a ghost has been haunting these streets for many years. Over a century and a half ago, the ghost wa...

CHATHAM – Barring unforeseen objections, it looks like smooth sailing for the proposal to nominate South Chatham as a National Register Historic District.
There were few questions and no objections raised to the plan at a public informational meeting last week sponsored by the historical commission and the South Chatham Village Association, attended by about 25 neighborhood residents. At the end of the session...

CHATHAM – The nature of retirement has changed in the past few decades. With fewer companies offering pensions, older folks who might have quit the workforce altogether once they reached 65 are now either working longer or transitioning to some sort of quasi-retirement that includes a part-time job or consulting work.
Those factors have led the Chatham Retired Men's Club, now in its 62 nd year, to drop the wo...

CHATHAM – The future of the historic home known as Starboard Light is looking a little brighter.
Robert Moss has a purchase and sales agreement on the 154 Champlain Rd. property and wants to move the circa 1860 Cape slightly east on the lot and build several other structures alongside it. While the old house would remain on the original property, it would be rotated so that the front faces west, and a new hous...

HARWICH – The results of the most recent Youth Risk Behavior Survey at Monomoy Regional High School are out, and have given school administrators, parents, and educators much to think about.
The 2019 survey was administered in June, and after the weeding out of potentially invalid surveys (in Monomoy's case, 13), a sample size of 522 respondents was used to compile the data, 401 students from grades 9-12, and ...

CHATHAM — Early on, one of the key hurdles identified by local working families has been the lack of affordable early childhood education programs. The Monomoy Regional School District is exploring ways to bridge the gap by introducing a plan for universal pre-kindergarten (pre-K) for Chatham youngsters.
Last week, the Chatham 365 Task Force made its recommendations about ways the town can provide better suppo...

BREWSTER – When it comes to living with white sharks, there are many options: stay out of the water, move inland, or, if you're Greg Skomal, a marine biologist with the state Division of Marine Fisheries, you do all that you can to learn as much as you can about the creatures, and ideally save a life or two in the process.
Skomal has been doing just that—studying everything possible about white sharks—for more...

CHATHAM — Saying there’s no single action that will help make Chatham an affordable place for young families and other year-round residents, the Chatham 365 Task Force has recommended a varied package of 30 reforms that cover everything from affordable housing to the minimum wage.
One proposal, having the school district offer universal preschool, seems to be gaining traction.
The detailed proposal is the c...

CHATHAM – The largest annual fundraiser for the South Chatham Public Library, the summer book and bake sale, didn't happen this year. The process of moving dozens of books from the library across the street to the South Chatham Village Hall proved too difficult and problematic for the mostly older volunteers who usually help out.
That left the “little library that could,” as supporters refer to the 145-year-ol...